Collinsville honors veterans with new Veterans Memorial Park

COLLINSVILLE, Ala. - The Veterans Memorial Park is finally complete in the City of Collinsville. It was important for residents to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country.

Vertical stones stand tall to represent each branch of the military. There's also a broken stone to represent the fallen veterans of Collinsville specifically. In the middle lay bricks with the names of different veterans from both near and far. Anyone is able to purchase a brick to honor their own veteran in the memorial.

Last summer, the town of Collinsville held a groundbreaking for a new Veterans Memorial. "Our contractors went to work immediately. The weather was fine. We had so many volunteers helping us, it was tremendous," said coordinator Jimmy Carter.

Members of the community felt it was necessary to recognize those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Through a lot of hard work and collaboration from the community, the Veterans Memorial is complete for all to enjoy. "The stones that you will see are vertical standing," said Carter. "They represent our native sons and daughters because these stones were quarried here locally."

Each stone represents a different branch of the military. "You'll also notice that we have one that's broken with some names on it. That represents those that were killed in action from Collinsville."

Each stone is a direct representation of the different types of people that help fight and have fought for our country's freedom. "Without them, small towns like Collinsville, large cities like we have across our country, our country itself possibly wouldn't be existing," said Carter.

In the middle of the stones permanently lie the names of veterans from both near and far. Anyone can dedicate a brick to a veteran and have it placed in the memorial. "We have room for about 1,200 bricks. If we exceed that, we have plans to make expansions."

For more information on how to purchase a brick for your Veteran, you can click here for the Collinsville Memorial Park website.